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Summary

Image taken by Archibald James Campbell on a Christmas trip to Ferntree Gully in 1904. The photograph is from an album containing 181 photographs taken during various trips to throughout Australia. Although an amateur photographer most of Campbell's photographs were intended for a public audience (of natural history) however contained in his collection are many intimate moments of people in the Australian bush and reveal the Australian experience of the natural environment from the late nineteenth century to the 1920s. A well-known Naturalist and Ornithologist, Campbell was one of the first in Australia to employ nature photography in recording his fieldwork. He was also a great proponent of environmental protection. Campbell's interest in nature was aroused in childhood at Werribee, Victoria where he lived with his grandparents until the age of 10. His first love was egg-collecting, and his general interest in birds was further inspired by the study of John Gould's works at the Public Library. He was for many years active in the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria. By 1896 his collection of eggs represented 500 species. Campbell initiated the first of several dinners which led to the formation in 1901 of the (Royal) Australasian Ornithologists' Union; he was president in 1909 and 1928 and co-editor of its journal, The Emu, for thirteen years. Campbell published widely and was quite an early advocate for the protection of the Australian bush. He was also a keen photographer having taken up courses at the Working Men's College in Melbourne to enable the illustration of his great work .Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds. (1900). Campbell's egg collection along with his vast image collection is housed at Museum Victoria.

The image is part of a Photograph album containing 181 black and white and sepia toned photographs taken by A.J. Campbell, ornithologist, during field trips to various parts of Australia. One of two albums covering these trips [see also HT 15824].

Description of Content

Four women by a canvas enclosure labelled "Ladies Bath". One woman is inside the enclosure and appears to be emptying a basin, a second woman stands in the entrance talking to a third woman who carries a towel over her arm. A fourth woman, carrying a basin and with a towel over her shoulder, stands on the right. The fourth woman is wearing a large floral hat.